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Natcore Technology has been contacted by five companies, two from North America, two from China and one from Europe, to perform R&D testing to determine if Natcore’s black silicon and liquid phase deposition (LPD) processes will help the unnamed companies reduce costs and improve performance of their solar products. Natcore noted that the five companies are known to use plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) to deposit films on their products. The company will use its AR-Box at its R&D Center in Rochester, New York to complete testing.
The companies from North America sent Natcore several sample wafers to conduct testing. Some of the wafers will be processed with black silicon; others will be processed with Natcore’s LPD surface passivation technology, while others yet, will use both processes. The Chinese companies will have Natcore apply its “absolute black” antireflective coating to the sample wafers they provided while the European manufacturer advised Natcore that it wants it wafers processed with a very thin LPD silica layer. The thin layer happens to be an essential component of the cell structure the company has in pilot production and anticipates a reduction in cell manufacturing costs if Natcore’s technology is successfully inserted.
"These companies came to us because they were aware of our successes with LPD and black silicon," says Chuck Provini, Natcore president and CEO. "If the results are what we anticipate for these tests, these companies would very likely be significant near-term customers for our AR-Box, an LPD license, and the requisite chemicals."
"Furthermore," says Provini, "we've been negotiating a number of potential joint ventures in various global markets. Successful commercial tests will strengthen our hand in those negotiations."
